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Friday, July 8, 2016

I could not get last Poetry Friday (thank you Tabatha Yeatts) out of my head....or the news of this week. Part of being on summer vacation is catching up with news of my world. And, I am heartsick at all there is to see and pray for these days.

Poets from last Friday's Poetry Friday challenged each other to write a poem in the style of Kay Ryan, poet and US Poet Laureate 2008 -2010. Ryan's compressed style is appealing and much harder to mimic than one (ok, I) first thought.

The mimicry exercise is one of learning to hone, to weed, to sculpt....pilates poetry.

This is a rough attempt at a riff on Ryan's poem Insult which I found here:"Persimmon Tree." Persimmon Tree. ArtsMart, n.d. Web. 08 July 2016.

As you can see, I am completely absorbed with the tragedies of shootings these past days. I hope my attempt to put into words my thoughts is seen as a grief reaction and respectfully creative. It's very soon to write poems.

-They are the canaries in the coal mine whose deaths, civil and literal, warn us that no one can breathe in this atmosphere. -Justice Sonya Sotomayor*

Shooting, the noun, rips choice away from choosing to take it personally,appallingly. When humanityaims, squeezes, firesnot just at any coal mine canary suffocated in the darkbut dads selling CDsboyfriends driving home with beating--then stopped hearts. Thenofficers protecting a peaceful march.This word, this utterance reminds us that some nouns are too dangerous, broken, lethal-- that we must say, You must stop this.(c) Linda Mitchell*Ford, Matt. "Justice Sotomayor's Ringing Dissent."The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 20 June 2016. Web. 08 July 2016.